38 Odd Jobs That No Longer Exist

It seems like every day another job is taken over by technology, and these outdated occupations are no exception. Some of these may have gotten the boot because they are just downright ridiculous, but we'll let you decide. Take a stroll down memory lane and see if any of these strange, obsolete professions ring a bell.

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Milkman

Every morning in the 1950s, like clockwork, the milkman would deliver bottles and jugs filled to the brim with milk. If you were lucky, sometimes he would even deliver other kitchen essentials like eggs and butter. With the rise of home refrigeration the milk stayed, but the profession expired. Maybe if they delivered cookies too, milkmen would've had a better chance?

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Elevator Operator

Elevators didn't always move with the simple push of a button. Back in the day, elevator operators were in charge of controlling everything from the doors and direction to the speed and capacity of the elevator car — a lot of layers, or should we say levels, to the position. In the '50s, automatic elevators became more common and individuals had to push their own button (gasp!).

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Hacker

We wish we could tell you that hackers (computer hackers, that is) no longer exist, but unfortunately, these working men were more handy with trees than HPs. Hackers were known as woodcutters and were axed, yet again, due to technological advancements.

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Linotype Operator

Life without a backspace?! We can't even imagine, but former linotype operators definitely can. These highly skilled workers used the linotype, a hot metal typesetting system, to produce the daily newspaper in the late 1880s. Phototypesetting was created in the early 1960s and rapidly replaced all operator positions.

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Gandy Dancer

A Gandy Dancer actually has nothing to do with movin' your hips. The title is slang for a railroad worker who maintained the tracks years before the work was done by machines. However, you can still find some of these workers alive and well at major railroads.

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Chimney Sweep

This job has been around for hundreds of years, peaking during the Industrial Revolution and then falling into a steep decline after the adoption of electric and gas alternatives. Fun fact: Door-to-door chimney sweeps were called knellers. You can still find chimney sweeps today, just not as prevalent as before.

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Computer

If you've seen Hidden Figures, then you know what a computer is — and no, it's not the technology that you're on right now. Dating back to the early 17th century, computers, usually women, would calculate figures and crunch numbers all day long by hand. Yup, that's right, no calculators allowed.

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Billy Boy

Pinky's up! In the '50s and '60s, Billy boys were young apprentices in training that would make tea for the other men at work. Seems strikingly similar to an intern grabbing a load of Starbucks, right? Some things never change.

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Bowling Alley Pinsette

If you loved to play games and needed some extra change, a pinsetter position at a bowling alley was right up your alley. The workers usually manually organized the pins for every game. The job was sent to the gutter once the mechanical pinsetter was invented by Gottfried Schmidt in 1936.

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Switchboard Operator

Switchboard operators connected long-distance calls and directed communication before digital exchange switched up the game. By the early 80's the position became obsolete.

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Typist

Typists are still in-demand today, just without the typewriter. In the 1940s, typists were popular positions within the publishing, administrative and clerical industries. The role today has simply been upgraded with computers.

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Catchpole

Deriving from the old english word "cace-" and the medieval Latin word "pullus" (a chick), the job title catchpole, a.k.a. a debt collector, was born. There are still debt and tax collectors today, but none that go by this bizarre British title.

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Clockwinder

A clockwinder did exactly what the name insinuates — wind clocks. It was only a matter of time before electric clockwinders, which required less maintenance and fewer repairs, were produced during the Industrial Revolution.

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Columbia Valley Pioneer

Icemen

In the early 1800s, ice cutting was the common task of hand-sawing individual ice blocks from lakes and rivers to help store cold food throughout the winter. Then refrigerators were invented and the heavy-lifting job chilled out.

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Eggler

We're not going to lie, there's nothing too eggsquisite about this job. The egg carton was invented in 1911, and Egglers began to sell bulk batches of eggs and sometimes switched it up with other poultry. At the end of the day, they couldn't wing it with just eggs and poultry and added other food to the mix. Today, you can find these folks at farmers' markets.

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Fuller

A fuller is a job that every parent can relate to — washing clothes. In the medieval era, fullers cleaned cloth to rid the textiles of oil and dirt. Afterward, the material was bound together to create clothing and other items.

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Hobbler

We assume a hobbler got its nickname in the mid-1800s from hobbling around and balancing on boat decks, but the real job was to tow river and canal boats. Similar deckhand positions still exist today, but they don't go by hobblers.

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Hush Shopkeeper

Sneaky hush shopkeepers got their name from keeping their liquor sales on the hush-hush during prohibition. Now, you can find a cocktail after a stressful day of work just about anywhere. Cheers!

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Knockerupper

Before the first mechanical alarm clock was invented in 1847, people hired knockeruppers to help shoot peas at their windows or tap the glass with long poles so they didn't oversleep for work or during an afternoon snooze. Then the alarm was born, which we all now have a love-hate relationship with.

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Lamplighter

A lamplighter in the late 1800s and early 1900s was precisely that — someone who is employed to light street lamps. Only a small number still exist today as the majority of street lighting is now electric.

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Lector

We all can relate to needing a little distraction at work. Well, lectors were the source of entertainment back in the '20s. They read news and literature out loud to employees, almost like an adult bedtime story without the bedtime. Although some pastors and educators are called lectors today, this type of lector was dismissed for most-likely being too distracting at work.

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Leech Collector

In the 19th century, medicinal leeches were thought of as medical miracles that would suck toxic blood and disease from the body. The profession was stopped as even more disease began to spread, sucking the life out of the entire leech-collector operation.

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Log Drivers

No, this doesn't just refer to the log ride at Six Flags. Up until the 1970s, log drivers helped move huge tree trunks from the forest to sawmills for construction purposes. The job didn't make the cut as modern transportation progressed.

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Lungs

Ironically, "lungs" were people employed to fan the fire in alchemist shops, primarily between the 14th and 16th centuries. Due to all the toxic materials in the labs, the worker's actual lungs became blackened, and the job was put to rest.

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Mudlarks

Typically an occupation dominated by those in extreme poverty, mudlarks scavenged through river mud in search of valuable items that were resold to the public. In 1904 this job was viewed as unlawful and was frowned upon.

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Necessary Women

Necessary women were, well, definitely necessary before the colonial period. These women were known to empty chamber pots filled with waste throughout the day. It wasn't until the end of the colonial period that indoor bathrooms became commonplace, and the job was flushed down the toilet.

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Phrenologist

Phrenologists were considered ahead of the game because they were masters in "the only true science of mind," or in other words, reading intelligence based on the shape of your head. This practice fizzled and eventually became disbanded in 1967.

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Powdermonkey

During the Age of Sail, young men on warships who stuffed gunpowder in cannons were dubbed powdermonkeys. "Monkey" could've stemmed from monkeying around, but we're not certain. As artillery innovation spurred, the powdermonkey position went kaboom!

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Quarryman

We take things like heavy-duty construction equipment for granite these days! In the late 19th century, Quarrymen rocked construction sites, mining stone that was used for other home-building purposes.

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Ratteners

According to Mental Floss, in the Victorian Era, ratteners would capture and sell rats to pubs where they were eaten by dogs and played with for entertainment. Rats, can't believe we missed that "premium" entertainment!

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